Join MIT alumnus and first prize winner of the International Chopin Competition, Sean Sutherland '00 for a piano recital in Killian Hall.
PROGRAM
Johann Sebastian Bach/arr. Busoni – Nun komm der Heiden Heiland
Johann Sebastian Bach/arr. Hess – Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
Frédéric Chopin – Fantaisie, Op. 49
David Bontemps – 24 Préludes, No. 1-12
Alato – Winged
Triste – Sad
Languido – Languid
Sardonico – Sardonic
Malizioso – Mischievous
Marziale – Martial
Poetico – Poetic
Lamento – Lament
Candido – Innocent
Agitato – Agitated
Onirico – Dreamlike
Nervoso – Nervous
Maurice Ravel – La Valse
This event is in-person only and will not be livestreamed.
About the Artist
Born in St. Vincent, pianist Sean Sutherland has been thrilling audiences far and wide especially after having won first prize in the 2021 Chopin Amateur competition in Warsaw. According to the Newsday newspaper, “something electric happened” during Sean’s recent performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in Trinidad. “Sean Sutherland doesn’t play the piano. I doubt he ever has. The piano plays him. Music shoots out of his fingers, his feet, the top of his head, even his elbows … transformed from a man to an adjunct to the piano. It was truly extraordinary.”
Sean’s recitals have taken him to The Gasteig in Munich, Germany, as well as to France, many cities in the US and Canada, and throughout the Caribbean. He has enjoyed collaborating with symphony orchestras including the Fort Worth Symphony, Las Colinas Symphony, the Mansfield Philharmonic, the International Symphony Orchestra, and the National Sinfonia of Trinidad. His concerto repertoire comprises twenty concertos, including several concerti of Mozart and Beethoven, several romantic concerti, Prokofiev 3, Ravel’s G major, and Gershwin’s F major.
A recipient of the 2021 Anthony Sabga Award for Excellence in the Arts and Letters, Sutherland is well known and recognized for his contributions to classical music in the Caribbean. Not only has he collaborated with several artists across the region, but he has also arranged and performed concertos with steelpan (steel drum) orchestras, including the National Steel Symphony Orchestra of Trinidad and Tobago. Sean’s commitment to promoting Caribbean classical piano music has led him to collaborate with David Bontemps, a Haitian-Canadian composer whose set of 24 Preludes Sean will premiere and record this year. Furthermore, Sutherland returns annually to his native country to perform a benefit concert to support young musicians.
A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with degrees in Music and Electrical Engineering/Computer Science, Sean continued on to McGill to pursue an MBA and to Stanford, where he earned a Master’s Degree in Learning and Design Technology. His passion for music is supported by his role as a Product Manager in a firm in Toronto, Canada, where he currently resides. Over the years, Sean has studied with and been mentored by several pianists, including Heng-Jin Park, Jerome Rose, Patricia Zander, Andrey Manulik, Lawrence Pitchko, Lois Williams, Diane Hidy, and Gwendolyn Mok, all of whom have shaped the incredible talent he has become.
